Trying to recreate the logic that resulted in my not taking this entire week off, since I'll only be here at the monkey factory for two days before leaving for Vegas. Failing miserably.
I'm actually hiding from the online poker tables of late, and probably will do so until Vegas. I went on a nice little rush over the weekend at the 15/30 tables and decided to shut it down while I was happy and smiley, instead of pushing things and risking a downturn before leaving for Vegas. Which makes little logical sense, but, you know, whatever...
I broke down yesterday and bought the new Sid Meier's Pirates, which is pretty amusing so far. So far I've just played on the easiest setting, blowing things up and raping and pillaging, but it looks pretty entertaining, especially the open-ended aspect of it. And it's got pirates. Pirates! Argh, matey...
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Friday, May 27, 2005
Me Likee Fridays
Boo ya. Already mowed the dang ol' yard, finished up most of my telecommuting work for the day, and relieved assorted muppets of a goodly chunk of chips.
I have to say, profits and losses aside, just sacking up and moving to 15/30 has been one of the best things I've done in a long while, poker-wise. I'm actually enjoying playing again and finally thinking about hands, instead of cruising on auto-pilot.
I've mentioned this before (and seen it mentioned elsewhere), but it's an odd thing, playing at higher limits. There are still the inevitable gasket-blowing suckouts and bad beats, but things start to make a little more sense, even when they're non-sensical. You can actually make people lay down hands, which opens all sorts of avenues. If you're willing to be absolutely relentless and are able to ioslate certain players at the table (especially when they open with a raise), you can essentially play any two cards, and do it profitably on a consistent basis.
That said, me I'm still wearing the lacy panties and playing pretty standard ABC poker. Which, in a backwards fashion, is also a reasonably successful tactic, especially if you're playing with the right mix of hyper-aggressive players and a fish or two.
Less than a week until Vegas? Really?
I have to say, profits and losses aside, just sacking up and moving to 15/30 has been one of the best things I've done in a long while, poker-wise. I'm actually enjoying playing again and finally thinking about hands, instead of cruising on auto-pilot.
I've mentioned this before (and seen it mentioned elsewhere), but it's an odd thing, playing at higher limits. There are still the inevitable gasket-blowing suckouts and bad beats, but things start to make a little more sense, even when they're non-sensical. You can actually make people lay down hands, which opens all sorts of avenues. If you're willing to be absolutely relentless and are able to ioslate certain players at the table (especially when they open with a raise), you can essentially play any two cards, and do it profitably on a consistent basis.
That said, me I'm still wearing the lacy panties and playing pretty standard ABC poker. Which, in a backwards fashion, is also a reasonably successful tactic, especially if you're playing with the right mix of hyper-aggressive players and a fish or two.
Less than a week until Vegas? Really?
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
The Trials and Tribulation of Online Poker
Geez. I mean, it's hard enough dealing with the fact that online poker is rigged, not to mention bankroll management issues due to cashout curses. Apparently I now have to keep on eye on the +BB ban, which basically means that if you blog about results and it includes a positive BB/100 or BB/hr number, you will immediately be completely and utterly mauled at the tables immediately after posting. You will be dealt second best after second best hand, handing large sums of money again and again to the same damn muppet with a VPIP of 72% who apparently suffered a freak childhood accident leaving him with a blind spot in his vision that corresponds exactly to where the Fold button is located.
Mmm, spleeny...
Despite not playing there much myself, I have to give Gamesgrid a lot of credit, as far as going about the whole launch a new poker site thing in a smart way, instead of just licensing a skin and throwing up yet another generic, identical site. They've just launched a dealer's choice game, where you get to choose between Hold em, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud Hi-lo, Razz & 7 Card Stud when you've got the button. Big props to them to recognizing that hey, players might like having the option to play mixed games, and even bigger props to, gasp, actually implementing the feature, instead of pretending that anything that requires actual programming is completely and utterly impossible.
I wish this whole competitive evolution of the online poker world would hurry its ass up. There's absolutely no reason why every major poker site shouldn't be offer mixed games now, or triple draw, or razz, or basically any variant known to man (even silly home game staples like Follow the Queen or Baseball or Guts). If you can handle the programming required to offer MTTs that support thousands of players, you damn well can figure a way out to let me donk away some money playing Anaconda. Yeah, I know, you're making good money now, but isn't more money better? You've done all of the heavy lifting but for some reason you insist on ignoring all of the small touches that would crank out additional profits.
It's also fairly ridiculous that no one has invested the money to set up the licensing/infrastructure/support staff to offer interest-bearing accounts. If you're looking for an incentive to increase player retention, there you go. Forget trying to tempt me into staying on your site by offering me the chance to get 18 polo shirts with your logo on it for free, or by offering reload bonuses that you KNOW aren't successful in promoting long-term customer loyalty. Pay me interest on any money in my account and I'll park a lot of money there and leave it there. Pay out more interest on a sliding scale, based on total rake contributed, and I'll play a lot more. The model would work, especially given the leverage you'd have from the total sum of money deposited.
Or, you know, keep doing what you're doing, and blow all sorts of chances to improve the existing, inefficient model.
Mmm, spleeny...
Despite not playing there much myself, I have to give Gamesgrid a lot of credit, as far as going about the whole launch a new poker site thing in a smart way, instead of just licensing a skin and throwing up yet another generic, identical site. They've just launched a dealer's choice game, where you get to choose between Hold em, Omaha Hi-Lo, 7 Card Stud Hi-lo, Razz & 7 Card Stud when you've got the button. Big props to them to recognizing that hey, players might like having the option to play mixed games, and even bigger props to, gasp, actually implementing the feature, instead of pretending that anything that requires actual programming is completely and utterly impossible.
I wish this whole competitive evolution of the online poker world would hurry its ass up. There's absolutely no reason why every major poker site shouldn't be offer mixed games now, or triple draw, or razz, or basically any variant known to man (even silly home game staples like Follow the Queen or Baseball or Guts). If you can handle the programming required to offer MTTs that support thousands of players, you damn well can figure a way out to let me donk away some money playing Anaconda. Yeah, I know, you're making good money now, but isn't more money better? You've done all of the heavy lifting but for some reason you insist on ignoring all of the small touches that would crank out additional profits.
It's also fairly ridiculous that no one has invested the money to set up the licensing/infrastructure/support staff to offer interest-bearing accounts. If you're looking for an incentive to increase player retention, there you go. Forget trying to tempt me into staying on your site by offering me the chance to get 18 polo shirts with your logo on it for free, or by offering reload bonuses that you KNOW aren't successful in promoting long-term customer loyalty. Pay me interest on any money in my account and I'll park a lot of money there and leave it there. Pay out more interest on a sliding scale, based on total rake contributed, and I'll play a lot more. The model would work, especially given the leverage you'd have from the total sum of money deposited.
Or, you know, keep doing what you're doing, and blow all sorts of chances to improve the existing, inefficient model.
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
Buh-Bye Bonuses?
So I officially crossed the 10,000 hand mark last night, as far as play at 15/30. First things first, that's still a wee sample size, in the grand scheme of things. Not necessarily indicative of anything. Prone to misperception. Ambiguous.
All that said, I'm clocking in right at 1 BB/100. Which, uhh, works out to a decent little chunk of change.
The most encouraging thing is that I'm not playing anywhere near as aggressively as I should be, and still managing to book decent results. I basically need to amp up my aggression from every position and open up the range of hands I'll raise with, if first in. I also need to defend more, from both the SB and BB.
As much as it pains me, I think maybe it's time to bid adieu to grinding out bonuses at lower limits. I'll likely still do the Cryptos and Party skin ones, just at higher limits as part of the course of normal play. The bonus safety blanket is nice but if I can maintain anywhere near 1 BB/100 at 15/30, it's pretty foolish not to spend more time there.
I've also been playing a bit of $200 PL Omaha 8 at Party of late, which can turn into pretty crazy games. It's amazing how one maniac can completely alter the nature of a game like that, as everyone tries to limp along with the moron, only to have someone come over the top and raise, then one donkey calls, then another, then suddenly everyone else is getting odds to call, and there's a +$300 pot sitting there, before the flop, with 7 or 8 players in. I have much, much admiration and respect for people who specialize in the bigger PL Omaha games, as I get a little sick in my mouth on a regular basis, watching the craziness at the lower limits I play, and can only imagine what that's like with truly big pots getting shoved across the table, when some muppet catches runner runner for quads.
What's all this sudden Vegas talk in the poker blogosphere? Oh, snap, that's right, I'm going to Vegas in nine days, along with the wife, with our badass WPT wannabe shades on, flinging chips around, staring you down.
And yes, this is a not-so-subtle attempt to avoid some of the whole eventual introductory rigamarole in Vegas. To complete the attempt, via a suggestion of the Good Doctor via Human Head:
"Hi, I'm ONLINE NICKNAME from the YOUR BLOG. You can call me YOUR REAL NAME/NICKNAME."
or, you know...
"Hi, I'm Scurvydog from Sound of a Suckout. My real name is Seth, and I'm a normal human being who answers by their real name and typically introduces themself that way, not some gay poker blog moniker. But if you call me Scurvy or Scurvydog that's fine, too, as long as you're willing to wait a half-second or so for me to realize that hey, they're talking to me."
All that said, I'm clocking in right at 1 BB/100. Which, uhh, works out to a decent little chunk of change.
The most encouraging thing is that I'm not playing anywhere near as aggressively as I should be, and still managing to book decent results. I basically need to amp up my aggression from every position and open up the range of hands I'll raise with, if first in. I also need to defend more, from both the SB and BB.
As much as it pains me, I think maybe it's time to bid adieu to grinding out bonuses at lower limits. I'll likely still do the Cryptos and Party skin ones, just at higher limits as part of the course of normal play. The bonus safety blanket is nice but if I can maintain anywhere near 1 BB/100 at 15/30, it's pretty foolish not to spend more time there.
I've also been playing a bit of $200 PL Omaha 8 at Party of late, which can turn into pretty crazy games. It's amazing how one maniac can completely alter the nature of a game like that, as everyone tries to limp along with the moron, only to have someone come over the top and raise, then one donkey calls, then another, then suddenly everyone else is getting odds to call, and there's a +$300 pot sitting there, before the flop, with 7 or 8 players in. I have much, much admiration and respect for people who specialize in the bigger PL Omaha games, as I get a little sick in my mouth on a regular basis, watching the craziness at the lower limits I play, and can only imagine what that's like with truly big pots getting shoved across the table, when some muppet catches runner runner for quads.
What's all this sudden Vegas talk in the poker blogosphere? Oh, snap, that's right, I'm going to Vegas in nine days, along with the wife, with our badass WPT wannabe shades on, flinging chips around, staring you down.
And yes, this is a not-so-subtle attempt to avoid some of the whole eventual introductory rigamarole in Vegas. To complete the attempt, via a suggestion of the Good Doctor via Human Head:
"Hi, I'm ONLINE NICKNAME from the YOUR BLOG. You can call me YOUR REAL NAME/NICKNAME."
or, you know...
"Hi, I'm Scurvydog from Sound of a Suckout. My real name is Seth, and I'm a normal human being who answers by their real name and typically introduces themself that way, not some gay poker blog moniker. But if you call me Scurvy or Scurvydog that's fine, too, as long as you're willing to wait a half-second or so for me to realize that hey, they're talking to me."
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